Method of improving visual recognition of an item and item display system

ABSTRACT

A method of improving visual recognition of an item amongst a plurality of items displayed by an electronic device having a display includes providing a number of sets of actual dimensions of a number of the plurality of items, respectively, the number of the plurality of items including the item. A scaling factor is determined using the number of sets of actual dimensions and a number of sets of image dimensions of a respective number of representations of the number of the plurality of items respectively contained in a number of images. The scaling factor is applied to a dimension of an image to be displayed containing a representation of the item, and the scaled image is displayed.

The present invention relates to a method of improving visualrecognition of an item, the method being of the type that, for example,outputs a plurality of images comprising respective representations ofselectable items, such as in an online retail environment. The presentinvention also relates to an item display system of the type that, forexample, comprises an electronic device for outputting a plurality ofimages comprising respective representations of selectable items, suchas in an online retail environment.

Improvement in the range of goods and items available to purchasersthrough online retailers for home delivery has led to a significantincrease in online shopping traffic. In the grocery sector, some onlineretailers are now offering a choice of over 50,000 items available forhome delivery via orders placed online. Whilst many shoppers enjoy theonline shopping experience, in some cases the experience could beimproved by clearer and more user-friendly Graphical User Interfaces(GUIs).

One example of a GUI relating to an online retail system comprisesdisplaying inventory items for purchase via an online retail website.The display of each item comprises providing a placeholder and disposingtherein an image of a Front Of Pack (FOP) of an item, informationrelating to the item, for example weight, size, organic status,vegetarian status, availability, price of the item and informationrelating to any special offers.

The arrangement of the information and images relating to inventoryitems as described above is designed to be regular and to show as muchinformation in the placeholder as possible. For example, the image ofthe FOP can be scaled such that the image is displayed as large aspossible in the portion of the placeholder allocated to the image. Thisis in order to show as much information in relation to the product aspossible. FOP images can be provided by image banks or can be capturedvia suitable photographic equipment by a retailer as required. Theplaceholder relating to each item is of a fixed size, and theinformation disposed therein relates to the item being scaled to fit theplaceholder.

It will be appreciated that using such an arrangement as describedabove, leads to a display of inventory items that, whilst regular andeasy to achieve from a computer programming viewpoint, results in adisplay having large amounts of white, unused space while providing arelatively low density of inventory items on the page.

Online retailers have attempted to reduce the complexity of the imagesand pages the user is required to access and also to reduce the clutterwithin specific pages from which specific items are chosen. However, theretailer must fulfil requirements to supply the relevant information tothe user whilst making the online shopping experience enjoyable toencourage repeat orders.

In an attempt to provide purchasers with an improved user-friendly userinterface, some retailers have even virtualised stores, in certain casesproviding three-dimensional views of aisles, shelves and checkouts.Using these tactics, online retailers can replicate the shoppingexperience of visiting an actual store. US patent publication no. US2012/0330781A1 discloses a system and method for shopping for goodsusing a virtualised and personalised storefront. In particular, ashopper-tailored, virtual, model of a physical storefront where itemsare located in a configuration specific to customer preferences isdisclosed. A single virtual model can correspond to a given shopper,with product arrangements being personalised according to a shopper'shistory or purchases. Planograms can be created for the display of itemsor goods on a virtual shelf, grouped in appropriate sections, makingprovision where required for alternatives and/or special offers for theparticular shopper.

However, disadvantageously, such virtual store systems require shoppersto move around the virtual store when seeking other goods required.Additionally, the items displayed can comprise images that includeirrelevant or misleading information, providing a cluttered view for theshopper.

Moreover, it is a common problem that a shopper using an onlineretailing environment accidentally orders an incorrect size or volume ofan item through a lack of knowledge of weights or volumes of the itemselected. For example, it is not uncommon to order accidentally anextra-large sized item when a smaller size was desired. In this regard,it is often not possible to discern from the image displayed alone, thesize of the product being selected. This causes frustration for thepurchaser on receiving the goods.

Furthermore, such systems and indeed systems that display virtual 3Darrangement of items on virtual shelves in virtual aisles in a virtualstore waste substantial amounts of space on a display of a purchaser'scomputing device by filling available space white or leaving availablespaces unfilled. Accordingly, particularly in the case of shopping onmobile devices, a reduced density of goods or items displayed on ashopper's screen results. This can lead to frustration for thepurchaser, for example due to a need to scroll through more pages ofimages of items, which in turn can potentially lose customers.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of improving visual recognition of an item amongst a pluralityof items displayed by an electronic device having a display, the methodcomprising: providing a number of sets of actual dimensions of a numberof the plurality of items, respectively, the number of the plurality ofitems comprising the item; determining a scaling factor using the numberof sets of actual dimensions and a number of sets of image dimensions ofa respective number of representations of the number of the plurality ofitems respectively contained in a number of images; applying the scalingfactor to a dimension of an image to be displayed containing arepresentation of the item; and displaying the scaled image.

The method may further comprise: calculating a first average dimensionusing a same dimension of the number of sets of actual dimensions; andcalculating a second average dimension using the same dimension but inrespect of the number of sets of image dimensions; and calculating thescaling factor using the first average dimension and the second averagedimension.

The same dimension may be height.

The number of sets of image dimensions may respectively correspond to anumber of substantially minimum bounding boxes with respect to thenumber of representations of the number of the plurality of itemscontained in the number of images.

The method may further comprise: identifying a largest of the number ofthe plurality of items and a smallest of the number of the plurality ofitems; and allocating an ideal maximum dimension value and an idealminimum dimension value to the largest identified item and the smallestidentified item, respectively.

The method may further comprise: scaling the image to be displayed so asto be proportional within a range bounded by the maximum and minimumdimension values allocated to the largest and smallest identified items.

The method may further comprise: labelling the image to be displayed inresponse to determining that a value of the dimension of the image to bedisplayed corresponding dimensionally to the ideal maximum dimensionvalue is, when scaled by the scaling factor, greater than the idealmaximum dimension value, the labelling being to indicate that the imageto be displayed of the item has a relative dimension larger than shown;and/or labelling the image to be displayed in response to determiningthat a value of the dimension of the image to be displayed correspondingdimensionally to the ideal minimum dimension value is, when scaled bythe scaling factor, smaller than the ideal minimum dimension value, thelabelling being to indicate that the image to be displayed of the itemhas a relative dimension smaller than shown.

The method may further comprise: applying the scaling factor to each ofthe number of images and displaying the number of images on a virtualshelf in an online environment such that the number of images displayedare sized relative to one another.

The image to be displayed may comprise an aspect ratio associatedtherewith; the method may further comprise: identifying a pair ofdimensions of the item that best match the set of image dimensions ofthe image to be displayed by: selecting a largest actual dimension ofthe first, second and third dimensions; calculating a first aspect ratiousing the largest actual dimension and an unused dimension of the first,second and third dimensions; calculating a second aspect ratio using thelargest actual dimension and a remaining unused dimension of the first,second and third dimensions; and selecting one of the first aspect ratioand the second aspect ratio that most closely matches the aspect ratioof the image.

The method may further comprise: determining whether the image to bedisplayed is suitable for scaling based upon the selected one of thefirst and second aspect ratios and the aspect ratio of the image to bedisplayed.

The suitability for scaling of the image to be displayed may bedetermined by evaluating a quotient of the aspect ratio of the image tobe displayed and the selected one of the first and second aspect ratios.The aspect ratio of the image to be displayed may be the denominator ofthe quotient.

The method may further comprise: applying the scaling factor to theimage to be displayed when the height of the item is greater than thewidth of the item by scaling a width dimension of the image to bedisplayed by the scaling factor and determining a height dimension ofthe image to be displayed by applying the aspect ratio of the image tobe displayed to the width dimension.

The height dimension may be determined by dividing the width dimensionby the aspect ratio of the image to be displayed.

The method may further comprise: applying the scaling factor to theimage to be displayed when the width of the item is greater than theheight of the item by scaling a height dimension of the image to bedisplayed by the scaling factor and determining a width dimension of theimage to be displayed by applying the aspect ratio of the image to bedisplayed to the height dimension.

The width dimension may be determined by scaling the height dimension bythe aspect ratio of the image to be displayed.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided amethod of digitally processing images comprising: cropping a number ofimages comprising representations of a number of items, respectively, sothat respective sets of dimensions of the numbers of imagessubstantially define a number of bounding boxes, respectively;performing the method of improving visual recognition of an item as setforth above in relation to the first aspect of the invention; whereinthe number of cropped images are communicated to the electronic devicefor display.

The method may further comprise: providing an online retail environmentcomprising a display device arranged to display the image to bedisplayed.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer-implemented method for an electronic device having a displaycomprising: the device supporting an online retail environment andreceiving a plurality of sets of image data pertaining to a plurality ofitems, respectively, each set of image data corresponding to an imagehaving, when represented graphically, dimensions associated therewithand comprising a representation of the respective item associated withthe each set of image data, and the dimensions of the image constitute asubstantially minimum bounding box with respect to the representation ofthe respective item; the device also receiving the dimensions associatedwith the each set of image data and physical dimension data relating tothe respective item represented by the image corresponding to the eachset of image data; calculating a scaling factor using the dimensionsassociated with a desired image density and the physical dimension data;scaling a dimension of the image comprising the representation of therespective item using the scaling factor; and displaying the scaledimage on a virtual shelf.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer program element comprising computer program code means to makea computer execute the method as set forth above in relation to thefirst, second and third aspects of the invention.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided an itemdisplay system comprising: an electronic device comprising a graphicalinterface arranged to display a number of images selectable a user;wherein the electronic device further comprises a processing resourcearranged to receive the number of images to be displayed comprising animage to be displayed, the number of images to be displayed respectivelycomprising a number of representations of a number of items; theprocessing resource is also arranged to receive a number of sets ofactual dimensions of the number of items, respectively, and to determinea scaling factor using the number of sets of actual dimensions and anumber of sets of image dimensions of the respective number ofrepresentations of the number of the items respectively; and theprocessing resource is arranged to apply the scaling factor to the imageto be displayed containing a representation of an item; and theelectronic device is arranged to display the scaled image.

It is thus possible to provide a system and method that displays thegoods and inventory items in a manner where they are scaled relative toone another to enable a more pleasant experience for the purchaserwhilst enabling an increased density of inventory items being displayedon the page in an uncluttered fashion. Furthermore, it has been shownthat users find such environments easier to process mentally thanvirtual items in virtual environments, for example virtual shoppingenvironments, where all the items displayed are of a common or verysimilar image size. Such ease of mental processing translates into acorrespondingly improved online experience, for example an onlineshopping experience, resulting in the user being more likely to returnto the virtual environment, for example store.

Additionally, the amount of unused space on a given page issignificantly reduced.

The method and system further ensures that the correct scaling isapplied to each virtual product image to be displayed and to place it ona virtual shelf until no more products can fit. All products are evenlydistributed on the shelf, the maximum density therefore being achievedand the relative product sizes being displayed.

At least one embodiment of the invention will now be described, by wayof example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an online retail system constituting anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a client-side electronic device of thesystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of an architectural stack employedby a processing resource of the client-side electronic device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an online retail applicationconstituting a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an image manipulator module of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an image being pre-processed;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a flow diagram of a method of improving visualrecognition of an item constituting a yet further embodiment of theinvention;

FIGS. 9 to 11 are schematic diagrams of images being resized inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a display of the client-sideelectronic device of FIG. 2 providing an online retail environmentconstituting yet another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 13 is a screen shot of the display of the client-side electronicdevice of FIG. 2.

Throughout the following description, identical reference numerals willbe used to identify like parts.

Referring to FIG. 1, a communications system, for example an onlineretail system 100, comprises an electronic commerce server or servers102, arranged to support the offer for sale of a plurality of items,images of which are communicated to an electronic client device 104 fromwhich one or more of the items can be purchased.

In this regard, the electronic commerce server 102 is operably coupledto a web server 106, the web server 106 being arranged to supportgraphical presentation on the client device 104, for example via a webbrowser or an application (“app”). Although a single web server 106 isdescribed above, the skilled person will appreciate that a greaternumber of web servers can be employed, for example, working in concert.The web server 106 is operably coupled to a wide area network 108, forexample the Internet. In this example, the electronic client device 104is capable of communicating with the web server 106 via a wirelesscommunications network 110, for example a cellular communicationsnetwork, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. In this example,the wireless communications network 110 is operably coupled to the widearea network 108. The wireless communications network 110 comprises aNode B 112 capable of communicating, in this example, with theelectronic client device 104, the electronic client device 104constituting, from a communications perspective, a User Equipment (UE)device. Although, in this example, the wireless communications network110 is shown as comprising a single node B 112, the skilled person willappreciate that the wireless communications network 110 typicallycomprises a number of node Bs. Also, the wireless communications network110 comprises other functional elements within the infrastructure of thewireless communications network 110. However, for the sake ofconciseness and clarity of description, such other functional elementswill not be described herein.

In this example, the client electronic device 104 communicates with theweb server 106 via the wireless communications network 110. However, theclient electronic device 104 can communicate with the web server 104 viaother communications pathways, for example via a wired Local AreaNetwork (LAN) operably coupled to the wide area network 108 or awireless LAN operably coupled to a LAN or the wide area network 108. Inthis example, the client electronic device 104 is a smartphone or someother wireless capable portable communications device. In otherexamples, one or more of the client electronic devices can be acomputing devices, for example a Personal Computer (PC) supporting a webbrowser application.

Turning to FIG. 2, as mentioned above, the client electronic device 104,device operates in the LTE communications system 110 and comprises aprocessing resource 202, the processing resource 202 being, in thisexample, a chipset of a cellular communications device. The processingresource 202 is coupled to a transceiver module 204, the transceivermodule 204 being coupled to an antenna module 210.

The client electronic device 104 also possesses a volatile memory, forexample a Random Access Memory (RAM) 212, and a non-volatile memory, forexample a digital memory 214, each coupled to the processing resource202. The processing resource 202 is also coupled to a microphone 216, aspeaker unit 218, a keypad 220 and a display 222. In this example,display 222 is a touch screen display constituting both an input and anoutput device and the keypad 220 functionality is supported by the touchscreen display 222, which is an example of a virtual keypad. The skilledperson should appreciate that the architecture of the client electronicdevice 104 described above comprises other elements, but such additionalelements have not been described in detail herein for the sake ofpreserving conciseness and clarity of description.

Referring to FIG. 3, in this example, an operating system 232 isexecuted by functional hardware components 230, which provides anenvironment in which application software 234 can run. The hardware 230of the client electronic device 104, depending upon the specificconfiguration of the client electronic device 104, executes any suitableoperating system, for example a version of Windows Mobile™, iOS®, or abuild of Android®. The operating system supports the execution ofapplications to implement operation of the client electronic device 104.The operating system 232 serves to control the functional hardwarecomponents 230 and resides between the application software 234 and thefunctional hardware components 230. In this example, one of theapplications is an online retail application 236.

Turning to FIG. 4, the online retail application 236 comprises a datamanagement unit 240 operably coupled to a data store 242 supported by,for example, the RAM 212 of the client electronic device 104. The datastore 242 is arranged to store, inter alia, images 244 of items, itemimage dimension data 246 relating to the images stored, and item actualdimension data 248. The data store 242 and the data management unit 240are operably coupled to a plurality of functional modules 250 thatsupport online retail functionality using the client electronic device104, for example search functionality, shopping cart functionality, andlist functionality. Many aspects of the functionality provided by theplurality of functional modules 250 associated with e-commercefunctionality are not relevant to the examples set further herein and sowill not be described further. The skilled person will appreciate,though, that one or more of the plurality of functional modules 250cooperate to provide the online retain functionality. The online retailapplication 236 also comprises an image manipulator module 252 coupledto the data store 242. The data store 242 and the plurality offunctional modules 250 are operably coupled to a GUI management unit254, which is arranged to receive graphical-related data for arrangementin accordance with an interface scheme and structure of the onlineretail application 236 and output via the touch screen display 222. TheGUI management unit 254 is operably coupled to a display driver 256 anda digitiser interface 256 associated with the touch screen display 222of the client electronic device 104. In this example, the GUI managementunit 254 comprises a virtual shelf view module 260.

Referring to FIG. 5, the image manipulator module 252 comprises anaspect ratio calculator 270 having an input for receiving data and anoutput operably coupled to an image resizer module 272, an output of theimage resizer module 272 being operably coupled to the data store 242.The image manipulator module 252 also comprises a re-sizing factorcalculator 274 having an input for receiving data and an output operablycoupled to the image resizer module 272.

It should be appreciated that the electronic commerce server 102 storesa considerable amount of data of different types. Of particularrelevance to the examples set forth herein, the electronic commerceserver 102 comprises images of items being offered for sale through theelectronic commerce server 102. In this regard, the electronic commerceserver 102 comprises a plurality of images respectively comprises aplurality of representations of a plurality of items being offered forsale. The electronic commerce server 102 also comprises a plurality ofsets of image dimension data relating to the dimensions of the imagesstored, for example width×height dimensions. The image dimension datacan be stored separately or can accompany the image data as metadata.Additionally, the electronic commerce server 102 stores actual dimensiondata concerning the actual dimensions of the items and any suitable dataassociating the actual dimension data to the image data stored. Furtherinformation, for example weight, size, organic status, vegetarianstatus, availability, price, nutritional data, or promotions data, isalso stored by the electronic commerce server 102 as well as a number ofother types of data. However, for the sake of clarity and conciseness ofdescription, only the types of data relevant to a description of theimplementations exemplifying the inventive concepts set forth hereinwill be described.

In relation to the images stored, these are, in this example, twodimensional product images supplied either as images from the actualproduct or inventory item. In some examples, images can be obtained fromcommercial entities supplying digital images.

Prior to operation of the examples of the electronic commerce server 102described herein, the images stored by the electronic commerce server102 need to be pre-processed in order to minimise the amount ofbackground space that surrounds the representation of the item in agiven image. Referring, for example, to FIG. 6, a given image 300 of anitem, for example tomatoes, comprises a representation 302 of the itemand a background 304. The background 304 is typically visible around therepresentation 302 of the item. In this example, the background is whitein colour. In order to ensure the given image 300 is suitable for use inthe examples set forth herein, as much of the background as possibleneeds to be removed from the given image 300, within the constraint ofthe image being of rectangular dimensions, for example width×height. Inthis example, the given image 300 is cropped using a cropping tool of animage processing application (not shown), a rectangular cropping box 306being formed around the representation 302 of the item. Upon completionof the cropping function, extraneous background space 308 peripheral tothe representation 302 of the item is removed from the given image 300.A cropped image 310 therefore results having image dimensionscorresponding to a substantially minimum bounding boxes 312 with respectto the representation 302 of the item. This action is performed inrelation to the images stored by the electronic commerce server 102 toensure the plurality of images stored are compatible with the techniqueimproving visual recognition of an item set further herein.

In operation, the client electronic device 104, via the online retailapplication 236 makes a request to the electronic commerce server 102and the web server 106 to receive details of items. In one example, theuser can enter a search query through the online retail application 236or simply browse items after selection of a category of items. In anyevent, the electronic commerce server 102 and the web server 106cooperate to retrieve, in response to the request from the online retailapplication 236, a number of the plurality of images containingrespective representations of a number of items to be reviewed by theuser, and the web server 106 communicates the number of images to theonline retail application 236. In this example, the number of imagesrespectively comprise meta data that includes a respective number ofsets of dimensions of the number of images. As mentioned above, thenumber of sets of dimensions of the number of images, as pre-preparedabove, constitute respective substantially minimum bounding boxes, andso the number of sets of dimensions is effectively a number ofrespective dimensions of the number of representations of the number ofitems.

Additionally, the electronic commerce server 102 and the web server 106cooperate to retrieve a number of sets of actual dimensions respectivelyrelated to the number of items, and the web server 106 communicates thenumber of actual dimensions to the online retail application 236. Inthis example, the image data, including the sets of dimension data andthe sets of actual dimension data are communicated to the online retailapplication 236 in accordance with a data structure definition, forexample a predetermined data structure.

The number of image files and the sets of actual dimension data arecommunicated to the online retail application 236 in accordance with thedata structure definition, which is received by the online retailapplication 236 and the data management unit 240 extracts the number ofsets of image data concerning the graphical representation of the numberof items, the associated respective sets of image dimension data and therespective sets of actual dimension data. The extracted data is thenstored by the data management unit 240 in the data store 242 as theimages 244 the number of items, item image dimension data 246 relatingto the number of images stored, and item actual dimension data 248.Other data relating to the items, for example the price, SKU, weightand/or nutritional value, or any other salient information is alsoextracted by the data management unit 240 (if received) and stored inthe data store 242.

One or more of the plurality of functional modules 250 access the datastore 242 and cooperate with the GUI management unit 254, in order tosupport provision of an online retail environment in accordance with thestructure of the online retail application 236. As the functionality ofthe plurality of functional modules 250 that do not handle manipulationof the graphical representations of items is not central to the examplesset forth herein, in order to preserve clarity and conciseness ofdescription, the operation of much of the plurality of functionalentities 250 will not be described further.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the image manipulator module 252 isresponsible for attempting to manipulate one or more of the number ofimages in order to improve visual recognition of one or more respectiveitems when displayed via the touch screen display 222 of the clientelectronic device 104. In this respect, the image manipulator module 252retrieves a first image (Step 400) of the number of images from the datastore 242 along with the associated first set of image dimension data(Step 402) and the first set of actual dimension data in respect of thefirst item.

Product actual dimensions are supplied in the form A×B×C and aremeasured directly as actual dimensions from the product or inventoryitem itself. In most cases, A×B×C does not map directly to the formatwidth (w)×height (h)×depth (d) and a decision needs to be made as towhich two dimensions comprise the dimensions that will result inaccurate display the FOP of the item. For example, using the A×B×Cformat mentioned above, a pizza box can have relatively large A×Bdimensions and a relative small C dimension. In this regard, thedimensions selected should be appropriate to scale the A×B dimensionsand not include C, which corresponds to the end of the pizza box and sowill result in incorrect scaling if used.

The actual product size information is therefore used to identify whichdimensions out of A×B×C correspond to the actual width and actual heightof the product. The dimensions actually constituting the width andheight of the inventory item can be obtained by comparison of aspectratios calculated from pairs of actual dimensions and the aspect ratioof the two dimensional image of the product.

In this regard, the image manipulator module 252 initially analyses theactual physical dimensions of the first item in order to determine abest pair of physical dimensions, for example height×width, width×depthor height×depth, which matches the dimensions of the first image. Theaspect ratio calculator 260 therefore calculates an aspect ratio of thefirst image (Step 404), using the larger of the two dimensions of thefirst image as a denominator, the dimensions being in pixels. The aspectratio calculator 260 then selects the largest of the physical dimensionsand calculates aspect ratios (Step 404) using each of the remaining twoactual dimensions of the first set of actual dimensions, using theselected largest dimension as the denominator so as to yield a firstactual aspect ratio and a second actual aspect ratio. For example, ifthe height dimension is the largest of the three dimensions of the firstset of actual dimensions, the first actual aspect ratio is calculatedusing the height and the width dimensions and the second actual aspectratio is calculated using the height and the depth dimensions. Theaspect ratio calculator 260 then compares (Step 406) the first andsecond actual aspect ratios calculated with the aspect ratio of thefirst image in order to identify which of the first and second actualaspect ratios is closest to the image aspect ratio. From whichever ofthe first and second actual aspect ratios found to match most closelythe image aspect ratio, the associated dimensions are identified, forexample height and width or height and depth, assuming that the heightis the largest actual dimension of the first item.

If not yet determined, an average image height is set (Step 408) basedupon a desired maximum and a desired minimum image height selected onthe basis, for example, of a required density of images that need to bedisplayed by the display 222, for example 75 px and 225 px, resulting inan average image height of 150 px. Based on the height data obtained inrelation to all products to be displayed in a given in virtual aisle orsearch term, the largest and smallest products are identified (min/max)and an ideal minimum height value and an ideal maximum height value areset, for example 56 dp and 170 dp, respectively, although alternativevalues may be used. In particular, the maximum and minimum ideal heightscan differ depending upon the operating system and/or device displaycharacteristics.

Thereafter, the image manipulator module 252 calculates (Step 410) alevel of confidence between the physical aspect ratio selected and theimage aspect ratio. In this regard, the aspect ratio calculator 270calculates a ratio between the actual aspect ratio calculated in respectof the best pair of dimensions selected and the image aspect ratio ofthe first image. For example, if the selected actual aspect ratio is0.34 and the image aspect ratio is 0.38, then the confidence ratio is0.34/0.38=0.89. If converted to a percentage, this translates to 89%. Inthe event that the confidence ratio is higher than 75%, then the aspectratio calculator 270 communicates to the image resizer module 272 thatthe first image can be re-sized.

However, in the event that it has been determined that the first imagecan be scaled, a resizing factor or scaling factor is calculated (Step412) by the resizing factor calculator 274. The resizing factorcalculator 274 calculates the resizing factor, in this example, byanalysing actual dimension data and image dimension data associated witha first n images of the number of images stored in the data store 242,for example the first 30 images. In this regard, the resizing factorcalculator 274 analyses the height dimension of the actual dimensiondata and the image dimension data and calculates a mean value for each.For example, for the first 30 actual heights of the first 30 items, theresizing factor calculator 274 calculates the mean as:(h_(a1)+h_(a2)+h_(a3)+ . . . +h_(a29)+h_(a30))/30.

The resizing factor is then calculated by evaluating the quotient of theaverage image height calculated above (Step 408) and the average heightof the first n items in millimetres, i.e. scaling factor=mean imageheight/mean actual height. The calculated scaling factor is also used inrelation to the remaining images to be displayed. The scaling factor andthe image aspect ratio are communicated to the image resizer module 272,which then resizes according, in this example, to the following rules.

In respect of a given image to be scaled, if the actual height dimensionof the item is greater than the width dimension (Step 414), then thegiven image is scaled (Step 416) by scaling the width dimension of theimage by the scaling factor calculated, and the height dimension of thegiven image is set by divided the scaled width dimension calculated bythe image aspect ratio. However, in the event that the actual widthdimension of the item is greater than the height dimension of the item(Step 414), then the given image is scaled (Step 418) by scaling theheight dimension of the given image by the scaling factor calculated andthe width dimension of the image is set to the product of the scaledheight calculated and the image aspect ratio.

In the event that the newly calculated dimensions for the given imageare less than the minimum size threshold or greater than the maximumsize threshold determined above (Step 420), then the given image is notresized and the image is tagged (Step 422), for example with the letters“xs” or “XL” to designate that the item is particularly small or large,depending upon which size criterion has not been met.

In the event that it is determined that the scaled image is withinminimum and maximum size thresholds, the given image, for example thefirst scaled image, is kept (Step 424). Once resized, or if resizing isnot suitable, unchanged, the given image is communicated to the GUImanagement unit 254 for arrangement on a virtual shelf by one of theplurality of functional modules 250 requiring the first image to bedisplayed, for example a search module (not shown). In this regard, thevirtual shelf view module 260 determines (Step 426) whether a currentvirtual shelf has sufficient space to accommodate the image receivedfrom the image manipulator module 252. If sufficient space exists forthe image received, the received image is located on the current virtualshelf (Step 428), whereas if insufficient space remains on the shelf,the data output unit 254 generates another virtual shelf below the fullvirtual shelf (Step 430) and the image is located on the new virtualshelf (Step 432), i.e. the placement of the images on the virtualshelves is subject to wrapping. Once the image is placed on the virtualshelf, the data output module 254 determines (Step 434) whether moreimages are to be received for placement on the virtual shelf or shelves.If no further images are to be received, the GUI management unit 254passes the data corresponding to the images placed on the virtualshelves to the display driver 256 for output via the display 222.Otherwise, the next image of the number of images is selected (Step 436)and the above process is repeated in respect of the selected image.

By way of further example detailed and with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11,the first item 400 has a height dimension of 23 mm and a width dimensionof 60 mm. A second item 402 has a height dimension of 50 mm and a widthdimension of 10 mm. A third item 404 has a height dimension of 40 mm anda width dimension of 40 mm. The first image 406 comprising arepresentation of the first item 400 has an image height dimension of256 px and an image width dimension of 557 px. A second image 408comprising a representation of the second item 402 has an image heightdimension of 256 px and an image width dimension of 60 px. A third image410 comprising a representation of the third item 404 has an imageheight dimension of 256 px and an image width dimension of 256 px.

Assuming for the first second and third items 400, 402, 404, the averagephysical height is: 37.6 mm ((23+50+40)/3), the average image height,which is predefined, is 150 dp, then the resizing factor is 3.98 px/mm(150 px/37.6). Using these calculated values, the first image resizingcalculation is as follows to yield the first resized image 412.

New height=23 mm×3.98 px/mm=91.96 px

New width=91.96*2.6=239.09 px

New image size=239×91

The second image resizing calculation is as follows to yield a secondresized image 414.

New width=10 mm×3.98 px/mm=39.8 px

New height=38.29*0.23=173.04 px

New image size=39×173

The third image resizing calculation is as follows to yield a thirdresized image 416.

New height=40 mm×3.98 px/mm=159.2 px

New width=159.2*1=159.2 px

New image size=159×159

In relation to the third image, when the width dimension and the heightdimension are the same, the image is treated as if the width dimensionis greater than the height dimension.

In another example, once products are placed on an individual virtualshelf by the virtual shelf view module 260, the height of the shelfitself can be calculated for displayed accordingly. In this way, therelative heights between shelves can be varied.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, when arranged by the virtual shelf viewmodule 260 and displayed via the display driver 256 following resizingof the images, the images 500 of the items displayed alongside eachother are sized relative to the sizes of the inventory items to whichthe images correspond.

In this example, the images of a plurality of bottles can be scaledrelative to one another using the above-described technique to displaymore accurately the sizes of the bottles next to each other on a shelf.In this way, images 500 items of similar goods are displayed relative toeach other such that a purchaser can make a purchasing decision byselecting one of a number of different brands or types of a giveninventory item. If a user is looking at a virtual shelf displaying alltypes of milk, the cartons and bottles are displayed with sizes relativeto one another.

In another example, images 500 of inventory items are displayed scaledrelative to each other when a user searches for the item via a searchalgorithm used within the online shopping environment. For example, if auser searches for a specific brand of milk and the search algorithmreturns three different results, a relatively small, intermediate andlarge item of the same brand of milk, the relative scaling of the itemmakes it clear immediately to the purchaser which is the largest item502, which is the intermediately sized item 504 and which is thesmallest item 506 in terms of weight or volume, for example. Noadditional information need be displayed with the image to distinguishthe items from each other. Furthermore, this relative sizing on a givenshelf view enables the items to be displayed with a minimum of white orunused space between them. It will be appreciated that furtherinformation can be provided in response to a user selecting a givenimage and being directed to a further page on which more informationprovided. It will be appreciated that only the image and the price 508need be displayed as the relative sizings of the images implicitlyimpart more information.

In another example, additional information can be provided, for example,by hovering a mouse pointer over an image of an item and additionalinformation is then displayed in response to the hovering. Indeed, manyother methods are known to those skilled in the art that can be used toinclude additional information in relation to each item without the needto use portions of space on, above or around the virtual shelf.

It will be appreciated that in this way the density of productsdisplayed per page can be increased and the amount of unused white spacedecreased.

While specific examples of the invention have been described above, theskilled person will appreciate that many equivalent modifications andvariations are possible.

Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention set forth aboveare considered to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes tothe described embodiments may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

For example, in the event that absolute scaling of products is notpossible, for example, if the user is looking at their virtual shoppingbasket displayed in a shelf view format after having selected a smallitem, such as a packet of stamps, and a large item, such as a bulkpurchase of pet food biscuits, displaying these two items in the virtualshopping basket on a virtual shelf relative to each other can result inone of the images being un-viewable. In this case, it is possible toscale the relative product images such that their size is displayedrelative to one another but not to absolute values.

In order to achieve the relative scaling of product images, either inshelf or aisle or store view or in basket view or in search view, it isnecessary to calculate the relative product sizes from actual products,apply a product scaling function and size the image accordingly.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that a number of different methodsof relatively scaling images of inventory items can be used at any onetime for different virtual shelves in a single page view or differentvirtual aisles in a given shop. In this respect, a first method ofrelatively scaling images comprises proportional scaling. A secondmethod of relatively scaling images comprises linear scaling. The methodused can depend on the relative size of the smallest and largest item tobe displayed.

Additionally, as mentioned above, virtual shelves being displayed withina virtual aisle can be dynamic in height, the height of the shelf beingdetermined by the height of the largest product to be displayed on theshelf.

For example, the minimum height of a product can be set at 50 dp, suchthat users or customers are able to shop from a given view even if theproducts or items to be displayed are relatively smaller when comparedto other virtual products to be displayed in the virtual aisle orvirtual shelf.

It should be appreciated that if it is not possible to display scaledimages of virtual items, standard or non-scaled images may be used. Thiscan be the case if a user is viewing information offline.

In the case of loose inventory items, for example fruit and vegetables,these can be harder to scale in the manner described herein, but avirtual cuboid dimensioning structure can be imposed on to the item inquestion and the virtual cuboid imposed scaled according to anyappropriate technique described above.

In another example, the ratio between real minimum and real maximum(product heights), resulting from a search term/browse category/browsesub-category, and the ratio between ideal minimum and maximum heightscan be used to decide whether proportional or linear scaling should beused, for example if the ratio between the real minimum height and realmaximum height is greater than the ratio between the ideal minimum andmaximum heights, proportional scaling is used to resize product imagesin the virtual aisle or shelf or search term. With this scaling, theproportional sizing of all the items is maintained and the smallestproduct takes the optimal height between, for example about 50 dp andabout 180 dp.

Alternatively, if the ratio between the real minimum and real maximumproduct heights is smaller than the ideal minimum and maximum thenlinear scaling is employed. When using the linear scaling method, theminimum height is scaled up to, for example about 50 dp and the maximumheight is scaled down to, for example about 180 dp.

In other examples, additional features that can be employed to improvethe visual impact and ease of use of a product search and selectionpages or screens. For example, shadowing can be applied to therepresentation of items in the images, items, for example a hand or aruler, can be added to the image in order to give a greater appreciationof scale.

Although the above examples have been described in the context of anonline retail system, the skilled person should appreciate that theabove system and method can be applied to other environments whereimproved visual recognition of items represented graphically isrequired.

The methods of the above embodiments may be provided as computerprograms or as computer program products or computer readable mediacarrying a computer program which is arranged, when run on a computer orother processor, to perform the method(s) described above.

It will also be well understood by persons of ordinary skill in the artthat whilst the preferred embodiment implements certain functionality bymeans of software, that functionality could equally be implementedsolely in hardware (for example by means of one or more ASICs(application specific integrated circuit)) or indeed by a mix ofhardware and software. As such, the scope of the present inventionshould not be interpreted as being limited only to being implemented insoftware.

The term “computer readable media” includes, without limitation, anymedium or media which can be read and accessed directly by a computer orcomputer system. The media can include, but are not limited to, magneticstorage media such as floppy discs, hard disc storage media and magnetictape; optical storage media such as optical discs or CD-ROMs; electricalstorage media such as memory, including RAM, ROM and flash memory; andhybrids and combinations of the above such as magnetic/optical storagemedia.

1. A method of improving visual recognition of an item amongst aplurality of items displayed by an electronic device having a display,the method comprising: providing a number of sets of actual dimensionsof a number of the plurality of items, respectively, the number of theplurality of items including the item; determining a scaling factorusing the number of sets of actual dimensions and a number of sets ofimage dimensions of a respective number of representations of the numberof the plurality of items respectively contained in a number of images;applying the scaling factor to a dimension of an image to be displayedcontaining a representation of the item, thereby changing a size of theimage to be displayed; and displaying the image to be displayed.
 2. Amethod as claimed in claim 1, comprising: calculating a first averagedimension using a same dimension of the number of sets of actualdimensions; calculating a second average dimension using the samedimension but with respect to the number of sets of image dimensions;and calculating the scaling factor using the first average dimension andthe second average dimension.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe number of sets of image dimensions respectively correspond to anumber of substantially minimum bounding boxes with respect to thenumber of representations of the number of the plurality of itemscontained in the number of images.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 1,comprising: identifying a largest of the number of the plurality ofitems and a smallest of the number of the plurality of items; andallocating an ideal maximum dimension value and an ideal minimumdimension value to the largest identified item and the smallestidentified item, respectively.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 4,comprising: scaling the image to be displayed so as to be proportionalwithin a range bounded by the maximum and minimum dimension valuesallocated to the largest and smallest identified items.
 6. A method asclaimed in claim 4, comprising: labelling the image to be displayed inresponse to determining that a value of the dimension of the image to bedisplayed corresponding dimensionally to the ideal maximum dimensionvalue is, when scaled by the scaling factor, greater than the idealmaximum dimension value, the labelling being to indicate that the imageto be displayed of the item has a relative dimension larger than shown;and/or labelling the image to be displayed in response to determiningthat a value of the dimension of the image to be displayed correspondingdimensionally to the ideal minimum dimension value is, when scaled bythe scaling factor, smaller than the ideal minimum dimension value, thelabelling being to indicate that the image to be displayed of the itemhas a relative dimension smaller than shown.
 7. A method as claimed inclaim 1, comprising: applying the scaling factor to each of the numberof images and displaying the number of images on a virtual shelf in anonline environment such that the number of images displayed are sizedrelative to one another.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein theimage to be displayed has an aspect ratio associated therewith, themethod comprising: identifying a pair of dimensions of the item thatbest match the set of image dimensions of the image to be displayed by:selecting a largest actual dimension of first, second and thirddimensions; calculating a first aspect ratio using the largest actualdimension and an unused dimension of the first, second and thirddimensions; calculating a second aspect ratio using the largest actualdimension and a remaining unused dimension of the first, second andthird dimensions; and selecting one of the first aspect ratio and thesecond aspect ratio that most closely matches the aspect ratio of theimage.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 8, comprising: determiningwhether the image to be displayed is suitable for scaling based upon theselected one of the first and second aspect ratios and the aspect ratioof the image to be displayed.
 10. A method as claimed in claim 1,comprising: applying the scaling factor to the image to be displayedwhen a height of the item is greater than a width of the item by scalinga width dimension of the image to be displayed by the scaling factor anddetermining a height dimension of the image to be displayed by applyingan aspect ratio of the image to be displayed to the width dimension. 11.A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising: applying the scaling factorto the image to be displayed when a width of the item is greater than aheight of the item by scaling a height dimension of the image to bedisplayed by the scaling factor and determining a width dimension of theimage to be displayed by applying an aspect ratio of the image to bedisplayed to the height dimension.
 12. A method of digitally processingimages, the method comprising: cropping a number of images havingrepresentations of a number of items, respectively, so that respectivesets of dimensions of the numbers of images substantially define anumber of bounding boxes, respectively; and performing the method ofimproving visual recognition of an item as claimed in claim 1; whereinthe number of cropped images are communicated to the electronic devicefor display.
 13. A method as claimed in claim 12, comprising: providingan online retail environment having a display device arranged to displaythe image to be displayed.
 14. A computer-implemented method for anelectronic device supporting an online retail environment and having adisplay, the method being stored on a computer readable medium forcausing the electronic device to perform steps comprising: receiving aplurality of sets of image data pertaining to a plurality of items,respectively, each set of image data corresponding to an image having,when represented graphically, dimensions associated therewith and havinga representation of the respective item associated with the each set ofimage data, wherein the dimensions of the image constitute asubstantially minimum bounding box with respect to the representation ofthe respective item; receiving the dimensions associated with the eachset of image data and physical dimension data relating to the respectiveitem represented by the image corresponding to the each set of imagedata; calculating a scaling factor using the dimensions associated witha desired image density and the physical dimension data; scaling adimension of the image having the representation of the respective itemusing the scaling factor, thereby changing a size of the image; anddisplaying the scaled image on a virtual shelf.
 15. A computer programelement comprising: computer program code means for causing a computerexecute the method as claimed in claim
 1. 16. An item display systemcomprising: an electronic device having a graphical interface arrangedto display a number of images selectable a user; wherein the electronicdevice includes a processing resource arranged to receive the number ofimages to be displayed, the number of images including an image to bedisplayed, the number of images to be displayed respectively including anumber of representations of a number of items; the processing resourcebeing configured to receive a number of sets of actual dimensions of thenumber of items, respectively, and to determine a scaling factor usingthe number of sets of actual dimensions and a number of sets of imagedimensions of the respective number of representations of the number ofthe items respectively; and the processing resource being configured toapply the scaling factor to the image to be displayed containing arepresentation of an item, thereby changing a size of the image to bedisplayed; and the electronic device being configured to display theimage to be displayed.